


Living Happily

by redcandle17



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - Martin
Genre: Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-22
Updated: 2010-03-22
Packaged: 2017-10-08 05:43:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/73324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redcandle17/pseuds/redcandle17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Catelyn reads a bedtime story to her daughter Sansa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Living Happily

There were dozens of stories in the book Catelyn and Ned had given Sansa for her name day, but she insisted on having the same one read to her every night. It was beginning to drive Catelyn mad. After a fortnight she didn't even need to look at the pages; she could recite the story from memory.

"A _green_ gown with _white_ lace, Mother."

But apparently not as well as she'd thought. She suppressed a sigh and read that part again. "Jonquil wore her finest clothes, a green gown trimmed with white lace that she had sewn herself."

"Can I have a gown like that? I'll sew it myself."

She'd asked the same thing the second time Catelyn read the story. Catelyn gave the same answer she'd given her then. "No, Sansa, you've just had new clothes. But if you still want it next year when you've grown, you may have it then."

"Can my dolly have one? She's never had any new clothes."

Catelyn chuckled and kissed the top of Sansa's auburn head. "All right." It should be easy enough to find a small amount of the right fabric in the right colors, and the project would help Sansa develop her needlework.

"Thank you, Mother."

Catelyn kissed her again, on the cheek. She was the politest of the children. Good manners in such a small child was sweet and endearing - and often quite amusing. She still remembered the look on Lord Mormont's face when Sansa had greeted him with perfect courtesy and reprimanded one of the castle dogs for rudely jumping on him.

"That's awful," Sansa said, when the story was finished. She looked very sad. "Florian shouldn't have died." She said it every night and still she'd ask for the story again the following night.

Suddenly Catelyn realized that maybe Sansa was waiting for the story to change. "Not all stories can have happy endings, Sansa."

"But Jonquil and Florian are good and they love each other. Florian shouldn't die; they should get married and live happily ever after."

"Good people die sometimes," Catelyn said, thinking of Brandon. "The gods have their reasons why. But the story doesn't end when one person dies. Perhaps Jonquil met another man and they fell in love and lived happily."

Sansa didn't like that. "That's not fair. It should be Florian Jonquil lives happily with."

The matter was beyond a four year old's understanding so Catelyn didn't try to explain further. "Why don't we look for another story, one with a happier ending?"

Sansa considered this for a moment before nodding. Catelyn quickly searched the book, skimming the end of the stories for a happy one. She frowned. She had never realized it before, but few of the popular tales ended well. There were some about the Targayens, but she was not in a mood to explain how a brother and his sister could marry, or how a man could have more than one wife.

She stroked her daughter's hair. Life was harsh enough; Sansa should be able to enjoy happy endings in stories at least. Perhaps Catelyn could make one up. "There was a beautiful young princess who lived in the age of heroes..." she began.


End file.
